Non-invasive current collectors for improved current-density distribution during CO2 electrolysis on super-hydrophobic electrodes
Abstract Electrochemical reduction of CO2 presents an attractive way to store renewable energy in chemical bonds in a potentially carbon-neutral way. However, the available electrolyzers suffer from intrinsic problems, like flooding and salt accumulation, that must be overcome to industrialize the t...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2023-10-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-42348-6 |
| _version_ | 1797558574526758912 |
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| author | Hugo-Pieter Iglesias van Montfort Mengran Li Erdem Irtem Maryam Abdinejad Yuming Wu Santosh K. Pal Mark Sassenburg Davide Ripepi Siddhartha Subramanian Jasper Biemolt Thomas E. Rufford Thomas Burdyny |
| author_facet | Hugo-Pieter Iglesias van Montfort Mengran Li Erdem Irtem Maryam Abdinejad Yuming Wu Santosh K. Pal Mark Sassenburg Davide Ripepi Siddhartha Subramanian Jasper Biemolt Thomas E. Rufford Thomas Burdyny |
| author_sort | Hugo-Pieter Iglesias van Montfort |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Electrochemical reduction of CO2 presents an attractive way to store renewable energy in chemical bonds in a potentially carbon-neutral way. However, the available electrolyzers suffer from intrinsic problems, like flooding and salt accumulation, that must be overcome to industrialize the technology. To mitigate flooding and salt precipitation issues, researchers have used super-hydrophobic electrodes based on either expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) gas-diffusion layers (GDL’s), or carbon-based GDL’s with added PTFE. While the PTFE backbone is highly resistant to flooding, the non-conductive nature of PTFE means that without additional current collection the catalyst layer itself is responsible for electron-dispersion, which penalizes system efficiency and stability. In this work, we present operando results that illustrate that the current distribution and electrical potential distribution is far from a uniform distribution in thin catalyst layers (~50 nm) deposited onto ePTFE GDL’s. We then compare the effects of thicker catalyst layers (~500 nm) and a newly developed non-invasive current collector (NICC). The NICC can maintain more uniform current distributions with 10-fold thinner catalyst layers while improving stability towards ethylene (≥ 30%) by approximately two-fold. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T17:33:26Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-38284fce0e774f68bf4e26d28e57125b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2041-1723 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T17:33:26Z |
| publishDate | 2023-10-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Communications |
| spelling | doaj.art-38284fce0e774f68bf4e26d28e57125b2023-11-20T09:56:32ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232023-10-0114111110.1038/s41467-023-42348-6Non-invasive current collectors for improved current-density distribution during CO2 electrolysis on super-hydrophobic electrodesHugo-Pieter Iglesias van Montfort0Mengran Li1Erdem Irtem2Maryam Abdinejad3Yuming Wu4Santosh K. Pal5Mark Sassenburg6Davide Ripepi7Siddhartha Subramanian8Jasper Biemolt9Thomas E. Rufford10Thomas Burdyny11Department of Chemical Engineering, Delft University of Technology; 9 van der MaaswegDepartment of Chemical Engineering, Delft University of Technology; 9 van der MaaswegDepartment of Chemical Engineering, Delft University of Technology; 9 van der MaaswegDepartment of Chemical Engineering, Delft University of Technology; 9 van der MaaswegSchool of Chemical Engineering, The University of QueenslandDepartment of Chemical Engineering, Delft University of Technology; 9 van der MaaswegDepartment of Chemical Engineering, Delft University of Technology; 9 van der MaaswegDepartment of Chemical Engineering, Delft University of Technology; 9 van der MaaswegDepartment of Chemical Engineering, Delft University of Technology; 9 van der MaaswegDepartment of Chemical Engineering, Delft University of Technology; 9 van der MaaswegSchool of Chemical Engineering, The University of QueenslandDepartment of Chemical Engineering, Delft University of Technology; 9 van der MaaswegAbstract Electrochemical reduction of CO2 presents an attractive way to store renewable energy in chemical bonds in a potentially carbon-neutral way. However, the available electrolyzers suffer from intrinsic problems, like flooding and salt accumulation, that must be overcome to industrialize the technology. To mitigate flooding and salt precipitation issues, researchers have used super-hydrophobic electrodes based on either expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) gas-diffusion layers (GDL’s), or carbon-based GDL’s with added PTFE. While the PTFE backbone is highly resistant to flooding, the non-conductive nature of PTFE means that without additional current collection the catalyst layer itself is responsible for electron-dispersion, which penalizes system efficiency and stability. In this work, we present operando results that illustrate that the current distribution and electrical potential distribution is far from a uniform distribution in thin catalyst layers (~50 nm) deposited onto ePTFE GDL’s. We then compare the effects of thicker catalyst layers (~500 nm) and a newly developed non-invasive current collector (NICC). The NICC can maintain more uniform current distributions with 10-fold thinner catalyst layers while improving stability towards ethylene (≥ 30%) by approximately two-fold.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-42348-6 |
| spellingShingle | Hugo-Pieter Iglesias van Montfort Mengran Li Erdem Irtem Maryam Abdinejad Yuming Wu Santosh K. Pal Mark Sassenburg Davide Ripepi Siddhartha Subramanian Jasper Biemolt Thomas E. Rufford Thomas Burdyny Non-invasive current collectors for improved current-density distribution during CO2 electrolysis on super-hydrophobic electrodes Nature Communications |
| title | Non-invasive current collectors for improved current-density distribution during CO2 electrolysis on super-hydrophobic electrodes |
| title_full | Non-invasive current collectors for improved current-density distribution during CO2 electrolysis on super-hydrophobic electrodes |
| title_fullStr | Non-invasive current collectors for improved current-density distribution during CO2 electrolysis on super-hydrophobic electrodes |
| title_full_unstemmed | Non-invasive current collectors for improved current-density distribution during CO2 electrolysis on super-hydrophobic electrodes |
| title_short | Non-invasive current collectors for improved current-density distribution during CO2 electrolysis on super-hydrophobic electrodes |
| title_sort | non invasive current collectors for improved current density distribution during co2 electrolysis on super hydrophobic electrodes |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-42348-6 |
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